Entertaining, Buffets, Parties, Events

The Goat

April 6, 2010 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Katsikaki: Kid Goat

It all started last fall on a trip to Washington DC. I had dinner at Komi, a fabulous Greek/Mediterranean restaurant. The highlight (or one of the highlights, there were many) was katstikaki, Greek for a kid goat. I have had goat before, but this preparation was memorable.

Fast forward 5 months. I paid a visit to a butcher in New York City to order lamb for Easter dinner. This particular butcher only sources from the Northeast. “No lamb,” I was told – “Easter is early and the local lambs are not ready – but we are stocking goat for six weeks through Easter.”

I’ve never prepared goat before, but was up for the challenge. However, animal lover that I am, I had to dissociate the image of the animal from the meat. Goat would be fine as long as it did not bear any resemblance to the animals at the nature center or the ones I’ve seen perched on the sides of cliffs.

I placed my order for two legs of goat (they’re small), which I later had to increase to three – everyone I invited was so intrigued by the thought of goat, they agreed to come. I even tried for four legs, but ended up with a tripod – the supply was exhausted!

Goat: the most widely consumed meat in the world

Goat is a staple of Mexican, Indian, Greek, Southern Italian, Middle Eastern, Caribbean, and other cuisines. Baby goat, also called cabrito or capretto, is low in fat and cholesterol. It is similar to venison in its flavor and texture, but it isn’t gamey. Kid goat meat is tender and delicate like young lamb and is similarly prepared. Mature goat meat is tougher and more strongly flavored. Goat meat (also called Chevon), can be stewed, baked, braised, grilled, roasted, and barbequed. Some cultures roast the goat on a spit or in a pit.

Goat Nutrition

Goat is nutritionally superior to beef or chicken, with a low fat content. Since goat is a red meat, it contains iron and B vitamins.

According to the USDA:

3 oz. cooked (Roasted)	Calories	Fat (Gr.)	Saturated Fat (Gr.)	Protein (Mg.)
Goat	122	2.58	.79	23
Beef	245	16	6.8	23
Pork	310	24	8.7	21
Lamb	235	16	7.3	22
Chicken	120	3.5	1.1	21

Cooking Our Goat

How to cook our three legs of goat prompted much family discussion. One son suggested roasting the goat on a spit in the front yard, another suggested digging a pit in the back yard, the third, wisely, suggested braising it, indoors, in a large pot. I was on a quest for goat info. I googled and talked. I asked a couple of chef acquaintances. I went to primary sources: a couple of Greek mamas who own diners and cook lots of goat.

Bottom Line

You can cook goat, especially baby goat, much like lamb. When it came down to the wire, we ended up making goat stew – two different ways. We browned cubed goat, along with onion, garlic (lots), carrots, and celery. With a house full of people crowding the kitchen and eating constantly, we did the prep work and browning the night before and the stewing the next day. Because we couldn’t decide on our preferred flavorings, we made two stews – one with red wine and tomato paste, the other with white wine and lemon. We also made liberal use of oregano. We served the stew(s) with orzo, asparagus, and sautéed kale.

No Leftovers

Everyone – from an eighteen month old to an 85 year old – ate goat – both kinds. No clear favorite for red wine/tomato stew vs. white wine/lemon stew. A great meal, flavorful, satisfying, and quite nutritious. Room for dessert.

What’s In Your Easter Basket?

March 30, 2010 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Peeps, Jelly Beans, Chocolate Bunnies and Candy Easter Eggs

Easter candy nesting in baskets on beds of paper straw. Brightly wrapped candy stuffed in plastic eggs for Easter egg hunts. Chocolate smeared over little kids’ faces and indestructible peeps molded into weird shapes before being popped in the mouth.

It’s Easter candy time. Face it – admit it – Easter candy is seductive. I dare you to eat one jelly bean or unwrap and savor just one brightly colored mini-chocolate Easter egg.

If you are going to indulge — and sometimes a celebratory treat is worth it — you might as well know a little about your Easter candy sweet treats so you can factor their caloric punch into your eating plan.

Jelly Beans

Oh, those little nuggests of sweetness that come in multitudes of colors and flavors. Primarily made of sugar, jelly beans also usually contain gelatin, corn syrup, modified food starch, and less than 0.5% of citric acid, sodium citrate, artificial flavors, confectioners glaze, pectin, carnauba wax, white mineral oil, magnesium hydroxide, and artificial colors (takes some of the fun out of them, doesn’t it).

The gummy inside of the jelly bean may have originated centuries ago from the treat, Turkish Delight. The outside of the jelly bean is basically the same as the colored hard candy coating, developed in the late 17^th century, for the Jordan almond. The modern jelly bean appeared during the American Civil War when Boston’s William Schraft encouraged sending candy to Union soldiers. Around 1930, jelly beans, with a shape resembling Easter eggs, became popular as an Easter candy.

Although standard jelly beans come in fruit flavors, there are also spiced, mint, gourmet, tropical, and novelty flavors (popcorn, bubble gum, pepper, cola, etc,) available. They also now come in a sugar free version (seems weird, but true – wonder how many chemicals are in those).

Jelly beans may give you Technicolor insides, but they are fat free. On average, 10 small jelly beans (11g) have 41 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no protein, and 10.3 grams of carbs. Ten large jelly beans (1 oz or 28g) have 105 calories, no fat, no cholesterol, no protein, and 26.2g carbs.

Marshmallow PEEPS

These vividly colored marshmallow bunnies and chicks were hatched over 50 years ago. They are called PEEPS because the original candy was the yellow chick. Now produced for many holidays – in seasonal colors and shapes, of course — they continue to be the subject of numerous design contests (you’d be amazed what you can make out of peeps) and scientific experiments (some claim them to be indestructible). Just Born, the parent company of PEEPS, claims, on their website, to produce enough PEEPS in one year to circle the Earth twice.

For more than a decade, PEEPS have been the number one non-chocolate Easter candy in the U.S. Although yellow is America’s favorite color for PEEPS chicks and bunnies, they also come in pink, lavender, blue, orange and green. Made of sugar, corn syrup, gelatin, and less than 0.5% of potassium sorbate, natural flavors, dye, and carnauba wax, they are gluten and nut free. You can even get sugar free PEEPS made with Splenda. Five little chicks (42g, listed as one serving size) has 140 calories, 0g fat, 1g protein, and 36g carbs.

People have definite PEEPS preferences. Some like them nice and soft, others leave them out in the air to age to perfection so they get a little crunchy on the outside. They’ve been microwaved (careful, they expand and can make quite a mess), frozen, roasted, used to top hot chocolate, and added to recipes. They don’t toast well on sticks like regular marshmallows – the sugar coating tends to burn. Newspapers have been known to run contests for best PEEP recipes and best PEEP pictures.

SocialDieter Tip:

Many of us have emotional and traditional ties to certain foods – especially ones connected to holidays. If Easter candy means a lot to you, have some, in moderation. Just add it into your caloric consumption for the day – or balanced out over the course of several days. The trouble lies with eating handfuls of jelly beans, whole Easter bunnies, crates of chocolate eggs, and barnyards of marshmallow peeps – and then continuing to eat them until the supply runs out. Make up your mind that you’ll eat a certain amount, commit to only that amount, enjoy it, savor it, and then stop. Give the extras away, get them out of sight and out of mind. Dispatch them to where they are not calling your name and they are not within easy reach (the kitchen cabinet is too easily accessible).

My next post will give you the low down on chocolate Easter eggs.

How Many Calories Are In That Glass Of Wine?

January 22, 2010 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Love your wine with dinner – or maybe that champagne at your friend’s wedding? What about that wonderful, sweet, thick dessert wine to polish off a fantastic meal?

You may have your preference – most of us do – but whether it’s red, white, dry, sweet, or sparkling, it is really easy to overlook the calories in those long-stemmed glasses.

A standard portion of table wine (red or white) is 4 oz. But, how many ounces are really in the glass of wine that you usually drink? Probably five to eight!

So, on average, if 4 oz. of red or white table wine has about 100 calories, you are drinking anywhere from 100 to 200 calories of wine – in one glass! How many glasses of wine do you drink with a meal?

If you have dessert wine after dinner it’s about double the calories per oz. although the standard serving is less: usually 2 to 3 oz. So add on about another 100 to 150 calories for each glass of that smooth dessert wine.

Think about your strategy: wine is great but it does add calories. Wine instead of dessert – wine instead of an appetizer? Maybe both, maybe all. The choice is yours – just figure it into your eating plan.

Calories in Wine:

1 oz. of Champagne: 19 calories
1oz. of red table wine (burgundy, cabernet): 25 calories
1 oz. dry white (Chablis, hock, reisling): 24 calories
1 oz. sweet white (moselle, sauterne, zinfandel: 28 calories
1 oz. rose: 20 calories
1 oz. port (about 20% alcohol): 46 calories
1 oz. sweet dessert wine: 47 calories

http://www.calorieking.com/calories-in-wine.html

Brunch Buffet

January 18, 2010 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN 2 Comments

Face the brunch buffet and keep the calories under control!

Okay. So it’s a brunch buffet the day after your friend’s wedding. Do you really want to go? Maybe yes, maybe no. But you have to, she’s a really good friend.

Or, maybe you’re on vacation and staring down the sumptuous brunch buffet in the resort hotel. Boy oh boy, everything looks both beautiful and indescribably delicious. Freshly baked bread and scrumptious pastry displayed with an artist’s touch.

You really indulged at the reception the night before and your inner voice is chiding you to choose your food wisely and not blow your diet another day.

As any social dieter should do, you cruise the buffet line first just taking in all of the choices. Wow, what a minefield of diet busters!

What to do? What do you want to do? What’s going to energize you and not mess too badly with the calorie count that you want to maintain?

Yes, there’s fruit and yogurt and eggs. Bacon and sausage, too. But, you eat yogurt everyday and those pancakes and waffles look really delicious. So does the danish and coffee cake. And, you really want some.

It’s decision making time. Think. What are you going to eat the rest of the day. If you think you can eat at 11AM and have no food until tomorrow, bad choice. By late afternoon you’ll probably be so hungry that you’ll throw all caution to the wind and head for pizza or a cheeseburger promising yourself you’ll get back on track tomorrow. The possible beginning of a downward spiral.

Make your choice. Have a good meal that will fill you up, keep your blood sugar at a nice level, and taste good. What does that mean? Some protein and some complex carbs. Easy on the fat and simple carbs. Look at your choices – what will fill the bill? What are you willing to trade off? What will make you happy without feeling either deprived or guilty?

Start with the fruit. Not the juice, the whole fruit. Juice is sugar, albeit natural, in a glass. Fruit is full of fiber and antioxidants. Berries are a great choice – low in calories, almost always available at a buffet, and they can serve as a topping for yogurt or pancakes. Next some protein. Yogurt is a possibility – is it low fat? Eggs fill the bill, too, but not when smothered in hollandaise sauce or cheese – want to guess that fat and calorie count? Bacon or ham? Plain ham is surprisingly low in fat – something bacon and sausage are not. Plain pancakes aren’t a bad choice – as long as you don’t coat them in butter and drown them in syrup. Top them with those berries and have some protein on the side (a slice of ham, some yogurt, a spoonful of scrambled eggs from the next chafing dish).

If you decide you really will feel totally deprived if you don’t indulge in one of those delicious baked goods, choose one without loads of thick buttery crumbs on top, cut it in half or in thirds and be satisfied with that amount. Put it on a separate small plate that you can easily push away from you. Keeping it on your main plate or even a smaller one that’s easily reachable means you’ll be nibbling away at it the entire time.

Still hungry? Have some more fruit, another glass of water, some tea or coffee. No half and half, please. Oh, try and skip the mimosas and the bloody marys. If you must, try a virgin mary – tomato juice is low in calories and it looks just the same in the glass. Remember that the alcohol will mess with both your calorie count and your willpower to keep your hands off the pastry and the bacon.

Now, don’t you feel full, happy, and very proud of yourself?