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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 2021)
HOME & LIVING TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2021 THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD— B3 Finding hidden sources of sodium By BARBARA INTERMILL Monterey Herald A patient with dia- betes and heart disease told me he hardly uses salt. “I do buy more con- venience foods since my wife died, though,” he con- tinued. That’s an issue, according to new guidance to food manufacturers from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Citing that more than 70% of the sodium we ingest resides in pack- aged or restaurant foods — before we ever pick up the salt shaker — the FDA recently asked food proces- sors to gradually reduce the amount of sodium in their products. (Note: Salt is a combination of sodium and chloride. It’s the sodium part of this popular sea- soning we’e discussing now.) Sodium is not all bad. It enhances fl avors and helps preserve food from spoilage. And it’s an essen- tial nutrient for the body to maintain the right balance of fl uids. It’s our current obses- sion with excess salt that has health experts worried. Diseases like osteoporosis (excess sodium can leach calcium from the bones) and high blood pressure are all related to a diet too high in sodium. And high blood pres- sure is nothing to ignore, says the American Heart Association (AHA). Too much sodium pulls extra water into the blood, which makes the heart work Dreamstime-TNS An adequate intake of sodium is 1,500 milligrams a day for anyone over the age of 19, says the National Academy of Sciences. harder to pump nutrients and oxygen through the body. Like a garden hose under pressure, over time, the walls of blood vessels can stretch and get dam- aged. This, says the AHA, can lead to a stroke or other diseases of the heart. An adequate intake of sodium is 1,500 milligrams a day for anyone over the age of 19, says the National Academy of Sciences. Yet we Americans typically consume more than double that amount, an estimated 3,400 milligrams. The cur- rent goal of the FDA and Dietary Guidelines for Americans is somewhere in the middle — no more than 2,300 milligrams a day. So…until food com- panies fi gure out how to cut sodium in their prod- ucts, we need to be vigilant about what we throw into our grocery carts. Packaged and convenience foods are a good place to start — even those we tend to think of as “healthy.” Take a look at meat sub- stitutes, for example. Com- pared to 75 milligrams of sodium in a four-ounce serving of real ground beef, the Beyond Burger and other similar products has more than fi ve times as much sodium — 390 milligrams. Remember this when you’re comparing food labels: According to the FDA, a food is considered “low sodium” if it con- tains no more than 140 milligrams of sodium per serving. “Reduced sodium” means it has at least a third less sodium than the orig- inal product. Checked your breakfast cereal lately? Only one I know that has no sodium is good ol’ Shredded Wheat, with this simple ingredient label: whole grain wheat. Hopefully other products will soon improve their sodium profi le. ——— Barbara Intermill is a reg- istered dietitian and certifi ed diabetes educator affi liated with Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. She is the author of “Quinn-Es- sential Nutrition” (Westbow Press, 2015). Email her at to barbara@quinnessentialnu- trition.com. Chef Pati Jinich’s latkes, with a Mexican twist By GRETCHEN McKAY Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Latkes — potato pan- cakes — are traditional fare during the eight-day Jewish festival of Hanukkah, which this year ended on Dec. 6. Fried foods are symbolic of the small amount of oil that mirac- ulously kept the ancient menorah burning for eight days instead of just one, more than 2,000 years ago. Each family has its own recipe, and think they do it best. Some insist on grating the potatoes by hand while others are content to shred the spuds unceremoni- ously in a food processor; binding options include egg along with all-pur- pose fl our, potato starch or matzo meal. But all would agree that a latke should be crispy on the outside, with feathery edges, but still soft and full of fl avor on the inside. The key to successful latke making is to fry the pancakes in a neutral oil with a high smoke point, such as vegetable, canola or peanut, and to get the oil pretty hot — between 350 and 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Otherwise, they’ll soak up the oil instead of simply being fried to a golden brown crunch in it. You also need to squeeze every last bit of moisture out of the potatoes before adding them to the pan. A clean dish towel or piece of cheesecloth does the trick. While simple potato latkes are a holiday favorite, it’s also nice to spice up the dish with dif- ferent fl avors. Mexican chef and cookbook author Pati Jinich, who is Jewish (her paternal grandpar- ents immigrated to Mexico from Poland in the early 1900s, and her mother’s Austrian-Czech parents fl ed the Holocaust), created this recipe in 2013, to cele- brate the rare occurrence of Thanksgiving falling on the the fi rst day of Hanukkah. A blend of cultures and cui- sines, it features a mix of russet and sweet potatoes, with a little grated apple mixed in for a sweet, acidic note. There’s also a dash of ancho chile powder and cinnamon for the tiniest kiss of heat. As for the accoutre- ments? Forget the tradi- tional toppings of apple- sauce or sour cream. She serves them with a crunchy, citrusy Mexican crema made with fresh squeezed lime juice and zest and fi nely diced fennel instead. “It is a recipe that has no fuss,” writes Jinich on her website, and whose third cookbook, “Treasures of the Mexican Table: Classic Recipes, Local Secrets” (Mariner Books), hit store shelves on Nov. 23. “It lets these three ingredients shine through and, at the same time, complement each other.” POTATO, SWEET POTATO AND APPLE LATKES 1/2 pound Granny Smith apples 1/2 cup grated white onion 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt 2 large eggs well beaten 1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder, or whatever dried ground chile powder you have handy Pinch ground ceylon or true cinnamon 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 cup all-purpose fl our For fennel and lime crema 1 cup Mexican style cream or creme fraiche 1/2 cup fi nely diced fennel bulb 1 tablespoon fennel fronds chopped Zest of 1 lime 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice 1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt or to taste Wash and peel the potatoes, sweet potatoes, apple and onion and grate them, placing them as you go, into a large bowl fi lled halfway with ice water. After you are fi nished, let it all sit for a few minutes and thoroughly drain with a strainer. Wrap all the grated ingredients in cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel and wring energetically, squeezing out as much liquid as you can. Transfer to a bowl and combine with eggs, ancho chile powder, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and fl our. Mix well. Fill a large, heavy casserole or skillet with 1/2 inch of oil and place over medium-high heat. After 3 to 4 minutes, test the oil by adding a teaspoon of the mix. If it bubbles happily all around the edges, it is ready. Working in small batches, to not crowd the casserole, spoon latkes of about 3 tablespoons each into the hot oil. (I use large serving spoons or my hands and shape them in fl attened ovals.) Cook until the fi rst side is crisp and golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes, and fl ip to the other side, letting it crisp and brown as well, about 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Once you are fi nished, you may keep them warm in a 250-degree oven, or you may cover and reheat later on. Prepare crema by mixing all ingredients together in a bowl. Serve latkes warm, topped with crema. Makes about 18 latkes. — patijinich.com For latkes 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes 1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes M ICHAEL 541-786-8463 M. Curtiss PN-7077A CCB# 183649 A C ERTIFIED M ASTER A RBORIST Come Check Out Our New Location & New Menu! Are Your Feet tired of dashing thru the stores? We specialize in quality medical and surgical care Travis T. Hampton, D.P.M. for all types of Foot and Ankle Surgeon foot and ankle problems. New Family Friendly Location! New Menu! Bar Bites, Wood Stone Pizza and More! MON-TUES CLOSED WED-SAT 11-9 • SUN 11-7 1106 Adams Avenue Suite 100 • 541 663-9010 • tapthatgrowlers.com 541-963-0265 888-843-9090 www.GVfoot.com La Grande 1408 N Hall Street Enterprise 601 Medical Parkway Baker 3175 Pocahontas Rd. 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