| One of the easiest ways to cook fresh
is to use regional ingredients. A few examples of
this are lobster in Maine, shrimp in Florida, and
salmon in Washington and Oregon. Aside from seafood,
there are other examples of regionally fresh food.
You can get good beef in Oregon, Montana, Wyoming,
and many other states. Good produce can be had in
a lot of states. There is corn in Iowa, Nebraska,
and Illinois. You can find okra in the southern states.
These are just a few examples, but there are many
more.
One of the best places to find fresh produce is at
a farmers' market. There are farmers' markets in a
lot of places in the US. Organic farming is also increasing,
creating more demand for fresh foods. Supporting the
local farmers will not only get you fresh produce
today, but also into the future. This is one of the
things we can do to assure the future of fresh produce
in our country.
Aside from using fresh local foods, you can also
use local beverages. There are some great wines coming
from California, Oregon, and Washington. These can
often be had when they are first released for a fraction
of the price they are later available for. Another
great way to utilize beverages in cooking is with
local micro brew beers. The trend towards high quality
micro brews seems to be spreading from its renaissance
in the Pacific Northwest. Great stews and rich meat
sauces can be made using a dark porter or stout. Potatoes
can be complimented nicely by the wheat flavor of
hefeweisen.
Aside from using quality fresh ingredients, you can
also cook fresh by utilizing certain cooking techniques.
Using steam to cook is a great way to hold in flavor,
and prevent dishes from drying out on the stovetop.
Some people actually buy vegetable steamers to cook
fresher. While it is not necessary to buy a separate
appliance for this purpose, cooking solely with steam
is a very healthy way to cook. You don't need any
fat from butter or oil to cook with steam, and it
holds in the moisture as well as any liquid you would
add to a dish. Using steam to cook also transmits
heat more evenly, preventing burnt and unevenly cooked
foods.
One easy way to utilize steam regardless of your
setup is to leave lids on pots and pans while cooking.
This prevents the steam that is naturally created
from evaporating out of the pan, helping to seal the
moisture in. The only drawback to this is that you
can't see the food unless you have see-through lids
on your pots and pans. Another quick and easy way
to seal in the steam is to place a piece of tin foil
over the pan, but be careful when removing it so you
don't let the steam burn you. While you can choose
to use water with a little bit of seasoning or without,
this is not the only way to steam. You can utilize
steam in this manner using any liquid. Whether you
use wine or water, leaving the lid on helps hold in
the moisture and distributes the flavor evenly throughout
the dish.
Cooking fresh doesn't have to be about only cooking
with steam and fresh vegetables. You can use light
sauces and any number of ingredients to cook fresh.
Another way people describe this is cooking light.
The main idea to keep in mind is that any fat containing
ingredient is kept to a minimum, or left out all together.
Instead of cooking using a lot of oil, butter, milk,
or cream, you can use wine, beer, or water as a liquid
base. Some of the regions known for their high rate
of heart attacks could decrease this by using less
fat and oil when cooking. Instead of breading and
frying foods, they could use wine and spices to cook
foods, using the steam to hold in moisture. Instead
of cooking with butter, olive oil can be substituted.
Although this is not as healthy as using no oil, it
is certainly healthier than using butter or fat.
Even if you are going to use frozen vegetables and
frozen meats, using less fat containing ingredients
will help keep the meal healthier and make it taste
much fresher. This style of cooking does not require
completely changing the foods you eat. It's not a
strict diet, regulating the exact calorie intake and
carbohydrates you eat. It is much easier to change,
if you are simply willing to change how you cook.
There is no limit to how creative you can be, and
what flavors you can use to make mouthwatering dishes.
Above all, have fun and cook fresh. Your body will
thank you, and your taste buds will be no less happy!
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