Calamansi Vinegar adds depth to the lemon curd that’s then folded into whipped cream for this silky mousse, and it imparts just the right amount of tang to the berry compote. Both the mousse and the compote can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Layer any extra compote with yogurt for breakfast the next day!
Make the curd: Zest the lemons with a microplane grater, and then juice them—you should have 1 or more tablespoons of zest and 1 cup of juice. Some pulp is fine to include in the juice, but remove any seeds.
Step 2
In a saucepan, whisk the eggs and yolk thoroughly, and then whisk in, one ingredient at a time, the sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and zest, vinegar, vanilla, and salt. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk constantly as it comes to a very low boil. Cook for 2 minutes, lowering the heat if necessary to prevent a rapid boil. The curd should be thick enough to coat the whisk.
Step 3
Remove from the heat. (If you see bits of egg white, use the blade of a spatula to press the curd through a fine strainer into a bowl.) Slowly whisk in the olive oil until completely blended. Pour the curd into a glass bowl or jar and allow it to come to room temperature before covering with plastic wrap and placing in the fridge to thicken further, about an hour.
Step 4
Make the blueberry compote: Mix 3 cups blueberries, cornstarch, sugar, water, vinegar, and salt in a frying pan (this allows for more even cooking than a saucepan). Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the blueberries break up and the mixture thickens, about 3 to 5 minutes. While still warm (but not hot), fold in the olive oil and the last cup of berries. Let it come to room temperature before serving (refrigerate if not using within an hour).
Step 5
Make the mousse: Whip the cream and sugar until stiff. Gently fold in the lemon curd with a large spatula until mostly combined. Chill until ready to serve.
Step 6
To serve, spoon ample amounts of mousse into dessert bowls or glasses. Stir the compote, then place dollops randomly around the mousse. If desired, use a microplane grater to top each serving with lemon zest.
Pork Medallions with Berry Sauce Recipe, Spotlight on Raspberry Vinegar, How to Dredge, A New Approach for Managing IBS, and Standing Desks for Better Health
Members of the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club know that I’m a huge fan of pork tenderloin. This boneless cut allows for a faster prep and a more elegant presentation than chops.The recipe I’m sharing uses the Raspberry Vinegar from my new T. J. Robinson Curated Culinary Selections quartet of vinegars to deglaze the pan (deglazing is a quick trick for creating an instant sauce). It add sweet-tangy notes I know you’ll enjoy.
This edition of the newsletter also focuses on new research for people bothered by IBS with an easier-to-follow alternative to the FODMAP diet. The other study I’m sharing looked at different types of workstations to discover which style could be better for easing the aches and pains that come from sitting for hours in front of a screen.
Pork and fruit is a winning culinary combination. Rather than using the more traditional apples, this recipe calls for a double dose of berries, both whole blackberries and pure raspberry vinegar to create a tart foil for the pork. For a delicious side dish, a grain, such as bulgur or barley, mixed with caramelized onions would be ideal, adding sweetness to the plate.
1/3 cup white wine or homemade or low-sodium store-bought chicken stock
2 cups fresh blackberries, rinsed and patted dry
4 springs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Directions
Step 1
Mix the flour, salt, and pepper in a pie plate. Cut the tenderloin into medallions about 3/4- to 1-inch thick.
Step 2
Heat a frying pan large enough to hold the medallions over medium heat. When hot, add the oil, then quickly coat both sides of each medallion in the flour mixture, shake off any excess, and add to the pan. Sear for 3 minutes on each side or until brown. Transfer the medallions to a dish.
Step 3
Deglaze the pan with the vinegar. Add the wine or broth and the berries, and briefly bring to a boil. Add the medallions back into the pan, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until an instant-read thermometer reaches 145°F, about 5 more minutes. Divide the medallions among four dinner plates. Raise the heat on the stove back to medium, and use a potato masher to partially purée the berries; cook for 3 more minutes until the sauce thickens slightly. Spoon the berry sauce over the medallions.
Yields 4 servings
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Raspberry Vinegar
Look at the ingredients on a supermarket (or even gourmet store) bottle of “raspberry” vinegar and chances are real raspberries won’t be listed, but artificial flavors and colors and sugar will be. For a true raspberry vinegar crafted from raspberries and nothing but raspberries, I’m thrilled to introduce you to the ultimate Raspberry Vinegar from Gölles, the Austrian purveyor of all-fruit vinegars. If you’re used to artificially flavored vinegars, prepare to be blown away. This vinegar is tart and bracing because it is crafted from real fruit using time-honored traditions, and the only sugar comes from the berries themselves.
“It was important for us to make it in a pure way—it has one ingredient: raspberries,” said Alois Gölles, whose father started their family-run business in the 1950s. “Our approach is to make raspberry juice, ferment it into raspberry wine, and then transform that wine into vinegar—no adorations, no other ingredients. We do the same with all our fruits, whether quince or apples or pears. And that’s why our products taste unique: it’s the fruit and nothing else. That means no preservatives either,” said Alois.
Raspberry Vinegar lends itself perfectly to dressings made with nut oils, such as walnut or hazelnut. Use it on fruit-based salads and to add balance to fruity desserts that would otherwise taste too sweet, such as a raspberry sorbet (you’ll find my recipe for that sorbet along with 29 other dishes in the report that comes with my vinegar collection). Make it part of a chicken or mushroom marinade, and use it to deglaze your pan when making reduction sauces. Raspberry Vinegar also adds punch to drinks, from your morning mixed fruit power smoothie to a raspberry shrub spritzer.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
How to Dredge
To get a nice “crisp” on sautéed proteins like pork, chicken, and beef, it helps to dredge (or lightly coat) the meat in seasoned flour. But it’s important to do this once your pan is hot enough to start cooking and not before, or else the flour will turn gummy. Heat your frying or sauté pan over medium-high heat; when it’s hot (a drop of water will sizzle and evaporate), add your olive oil, then quickly dip both sides of one piece of the meat in the flour, shake off any excess, and place the meat in the oil. Repeat with the remaining pieces. Tip: A wide pie plate is perfect for both mixing seasonings into the flour and for dredging.
For Your Best Health
A New Approach for Managing IBS?
IBS, or irritable bowel syndrome, is more common than you might think, affecting between 10 and 15 percent of the population. If you’ve been diagnosed with IBS, you’ve likely attempted the FODMAP diet, which excludes a wide range of foods that have FODMAPs or fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols—short-chain carbohydrates that are poorly absorbed in the small intestine. Problem foods run the gamut from wheat, dairy, beans, and lentils to very specific fruits and vegetables, which is why you often need an app to help identify them and stay on track. Following the FODMAP diet is a complex process because you eliminate the foods, then add them back one at a time to try to identify the ones that bother you the most. Now scientists at Lund University in Sweden have developed an alternative and far less restrictive approach to quelling IBS symptoms like pain and tightness in the abdomen, diarrhea, and/or constipation: reducing sugars and starches.
A few years ago, Bodil Ohlsson, MD, PhD, professor at Lund University and consultant at Skåne University Hospital, decided to investigate the role of sugars and starches in IBS following a geneticist’s discovery: A genetic variation that hinders the breakdown of sugars and starches in the gut is overrepresented among people with IBS. Dr. Ohlsson’s first study of a starch- and sucrose-reduced diet (SSRD) found that, after four weeks, participants who ate significantly less sugar and starch, including sweet treats and highly processed foods, greatly reduced IBS symptoms. For the current study, she and her team decided to compare the two approaches head-to-head.
“One hundred and fifty-five patients diagnosed with IBS were included and randomly allocated to follow either SSRD or low FODMAP for four weeks,” said Dr. Ohlsson. Participants in both groups had to follow the basic principles of each diet, but they chose how often they ate.
Results were impressive. In both groups, IBS symptoms improved in 75 percent to 80 percent of the patients, which, Dr. Ohlsson said, “was even better than we expected.” In addition, weight loss after four weeks was greater in the SSRD group. Sugar cravings also decreased the most in this group, which is a positive sign, as IBS patients weigh more on average than healthy people do, Dr. Ohlsson added.
“We wouldn’t really even call SSRD a diet. It’s how everyone should eat, not just those with IBS. And unlike low FODMAP, SSRD is easy to understand and easier to follow. You can eat everything when you are invited to dinner, just less of certain things. If you rest your stomach for the rest of the week, you can indulge a little one day!” she said.
Fitness Flash
“I’m Still Standing…”
The well-known perils of sitting at a desk all day long include daytime exhaustion, high blood pressure, and musculoskeletal discomfort, just to name a few. Although devices such as standing desks can ease physical symptoms and even boost productivity, the specific effects of different workstation configurations weren’t always clear. To get some answers, a team of researchers from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health decided to compare predominantly standing (or stand-biased), traditional, and sit-stand (hybrid) workstations by measuring the computer usage and activity levels of 61 office workers for 10 days.
Participants were divided into one of three study groups according to the type of workstation they used—stand-biased, sit-stand, or traditional—with those using traditional seated workstations serving as the control group. The researchers defined sit-stand workstations as desktop units with a fully height-adjustable work surface paired with a traditional office chair. Stand-biased desks were defined as fixed work surfaces at approximately standing elbow height in conjunction with a drafting stool or chair with an extended cylinder, or seat post.
The researchers collected data on the amount of time the workers spent at their workstations, along with demographic data and information on how they used office equipment such as footrests, monitor arms, keyboard trays, or anti-fatigue mats. They also asked participants about their discomfort levels.
To monitor physical activity, researchers provided participants with an activity sensor that ran for one workweek to quantify and measure the participants’ activity levels and energy expenditures. To measure productivity, the team monitored participants’ workstation computer use through hidden and silent data-logging software. The resultant files for each participant were downloaded and aggregated to ensure a minimum of 10 workdays of computer use data, which were analyzed using statistical analysis software.
“What makes our research unique is our use of computer utilization as a possible indicator of, and proxy for, work productivity in all three workstation types,” said Kaysey Aguilar, DrPH, MPH, instructional clinical professor at the School of Public Health. “We found no significant difference in the number of key clicks between the three groups, but the stand-biased group had a significantly higher word count and more errors than the traditional group. In addition, the 24-hour activity data revealed that the stand-biased group had significantly more standing time, less sitting time, and fewer transitions per hour compared to their traditional counterparts.”
The study also found that while 80 percent of office workers using a traditional desk and chair experienced lower back discomfort, that number dropped to just over 50 percent among workers with stand-biased desks.
“The bottom line is that the risk of health issues from sedentary work can be alleviated through alternative desk options, like sit-stand or stand-biased workstations,” Aguilar says. “These are win-win solutions because they benefit worker’s health while maintaining the high productivity employers expect.”
Pork and fruit is a winning culinary combination. Rather than using the more traditional apples, this recipe calls for a double dose of berries, both whole blackberries and pure raspberry vinegar to create a tart foil for the pork. For a delicious side dish, a grain, such as bulgur or barley, mixed with caramelized onions would be ideal, adding sweetness to the plate.
1/3 cup white wine or homemade or low-sodium store-bought chicken stock
2 cups fresh blackberries, rinsed and patted dry
4 springs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Directions
Step 1
Mix the flour, salt, and pepper in a pie plate. Cut the tenderloin into medallions about 3/4- to 1-inch thick.
Step 2
Heat a frying pan large enough to hold the medallions over medium heat. When hot, add the oil, then quickly coat both sides of each medallion in the flour mixture, shake off any excess, and add to the pan. Sear for 3 minutes on each side or until brown. Transfer the medallions to a dish.
Step 3
Deglaze the pan with the vinegar. Add the wine or broth and the berries, and briefly bring to a boil. Add the medallions back into the pan, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until an instant-read thermometer reaches 145°F, about 5 more minutes. Divide the medallions among four dinner plates. Raise the heat on the stove back to medium, and use a potato masher to partially purée the berries; cook for 3 more minutes until the sauce thickens slightly. Spoon the berry sauce over the medallions.
Potato Frittata Recipe, Spotlight on Condimento Bianco Senape and Blackcurrants, Steaming Potatoes, and A Surprising Benefit of Exercise for Women
Autumn is a wonderful time to get together with family and friends, and what better way than over brunch? If you’re looking for a simple yet satisfying dish, my potato frittata fits the bill. It features Condimento Bianco Senape, a unique vinegar in my brand new collection of artisanal vinegars from the T. J. Robinson Curated Culinary Selections. Sweet, fragrant, and with a hint of mustard, it’s crafted in the style of a fine Italian balsamic (read below to learn why there’s actually no such thing as “white balsamic”). You’ve never tasted anything like it before—get ready to fall in love!
Also in this issue…I’m sharing fascinating research on blackcurrants, a powerful member of the berry family that might hold the answer to protecting women’s bones in midlife and beyond. Keep reading and you’ll also find out about a surprising benefit of exercise.
Elegant enough for a brunch party, this egg-and-potato dish is also easy enough for a casual weekend breakfast. The potatoes can be steamed a day or two in advance.
Cut the potatoes into 1/4-inch slices. Steam them on a steamer rack over simmering water until tender, about 25 minutes.
Step 2
In a bowl, whisk the eggs until no whites show, then whisk in the cheese, milk, black pepper, and 1 teaspoon salt until well combined.
Step 3
Heat a 14-inch skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the olive oil and the leeks. Sprinkle with a big pinch of salt and sauté until the leeks soften and turn light brown, about 10 minutes. Layer on the potato slices, overlapping them a bit. Pour on the egg mixture. Cover the pan and cook without disturbing over medium heat until the eggs firm up, about 8 minutes. Drizzle on the vinegar, cover the pan again, and remove from heat. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing into wedges. Drizzle each portion with more olive oil and vinegar.
Yields 4 servings
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Condimento Bianco Senape
I want to set the record straight—“white balsamic” is not a recognized type of vinegar in Italy. That’s because, by its very nature, balsamic vinegar must be made solely with grape must (grape juice made from all parts of the grapes) that naturally darkens to its signature purple-brown color. That being said, my new Condimento Bianco Senape, or White Condiment with Mustard, is reminiscent of a fine balsamic because it’s crafted in the perfect ratio of two parts white cooked grape must to one part white wine vinegar by the amazing vinegar producers known for their balsamic vinegars, Società Agricola Acetomodena in Modena, Italy. Both the grape must and wine vinegar are made solely from Acemodena’s own Trebbiano grapes, which give it its unique light color, and not their Lambrusco ones, which give traditional balsamic its deep color.
The idea for creating a complex, mustard-seed infused white wine vinegar in the sweet style of balsamic came from Patrizia Vecchi, the wife of Acetomodena owner Paolo Vecchi. She was inspired by the ancient Roman cooking technique of using a white vinegar along with honey and mustard to get a delicious crust on spit-roasted pork. The white mustard seeds, which are entirely edible, add a subtle layer of flavor to my Condimento Bianco Senape that would be lost in a traditional balsamic.
You’ll use this mustard vinegar to effortlessly create a rich and silky vinaigrette just by whisking in fresh-pressed olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper. I love its sweetness yet will also blend it with other vinegars when I want a bit more tartness. Use it as a marinade for poultry, pork, and fish. Drizzle it on steak and burgers, gourmet sandwiches with prosciutto and other meats, bruschetta with tomatoes, fresh salads like rocket with pine nuts and a drizzle of honey, and my eggless Caesar salad which along with the potato frittata are just two of the many recipes included in the Vinegar Report that comes with the collection.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Steaming Potatoes
Steaming potatoes keeps them from falling apart and preserves more of their nutrients than boiling. Simply scrub and slice or cube your potatoes and arrange them in a steamer basket set over two inches of simmering water in a stockpot. You can load the basket with two layers of potatoes, but try to keep some space between the pieces for the steam to get through. The potatoes are done when the tip of a knife easily pierces the flesh; start checking after 25 minutes.
For Your Best Health
Blackcurrants for Better Bones?
Research done at the University of Connecticut (UConn) has identified blackcurrants, a tart berry known in French foods and liqueurs as cassis, as a potential way of countering the bone density loss experienced by women in the years surrounding menopause.
For many years, Ock Chun, PhD, MPH, professor of nutritional sciences in UConn’s College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR), has been investigating the berry’s potential to ameliorate a host of conditions including postmenopausal bone loss and osteoporosis. One of her previous studies showed that in mice, blackcurrant supplements helped prevent bone density loss postmenopause, and that the best time to start taking these supplements is in the transition between pre- and postmenopause, before bone loss has significantly progressed. With these findings in hand, Chun and her team wanted to see whether the benefits would translate to people. The new study, published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, found that the supplements prevented the loss of, and in some cases even increased, whole-body bone mineral density in women.
The study involved 40 perimenopausal and early postmenopausal participants between the ages of 45 and 60. They were randomly assigned to take either one or two capsules of blackcurrant powder (392 milligrams per capsule) or a placebo daily for six months. The researchers found that the supplements prevented the loss of whole-body bone mineral density and that the group of participants who took two capsules a day actually showed overall increases in bone mineral density at the end of the six-month trial period.
The researchers looked at changes to the gut microbiome and immune system, which interact to play a key role in bone metabolism. They found that the blackcurrant supplements decreased levels of proteins called interleukin-1 beta and RANKL. Interleukin-1 beta stimulates the expression of RANKL, which causes bone resorption and thus a decrease in bone density. “The reduction in RANKL is important because that can cause shifts toward excessive bone resorption, so we’d want to see a decrease in that,” said graduate student Briana Nosal, first author of the paper.
Taking the supplements also increased Ruminococcus 2, bacteria found in the gut microbiome that help degrade polysaccharides and fibers. This is a key function that transforms the foods we eat into energy. This led the researchers to infer that it could be one of the bacteria driving the protective effects blackcurrant has on bones. “It’s all related, and there’s a lot of research showing the gut can regulate various systems in the body,” Nosal said.
The researchers identified a total of four proteins that had increased expression in the group of participants who took two daily supplement capsules. These could serve as potential biomarkers for the changes in bone density that they observed and potentially allow researchers or medical professionals to quickly and easily assess whether the blackcurrant supplementation is benefiting bone density.
This study is especially important for perimenopausal and early postmenopausal women who have or are at risk of developing osteoporosis. While medications for osteoporosis do exist, compliance is low due because of side effects. If a blackcurrant supplement can improve bone density without the same side effects, it could prove to be an effective alternative.
As the research team continues to study the relationship between blackcurrant and its benefits to the body, they’ll try to better understand why exactly they’re seeing these results and “how all our findings connect to each other,” Nosal said. “Conducting that multifaceted research will really paint the picture of how everything works, the different mechanisms, and what we can do for next steps.”
Fitness Flash
A surprising Benefit of Exercise for Women
Recent research led by Donald S. Wright, MD, MHS, of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Yale School of Medicine and published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that sticking with an exercise program is linked to older women staying out of the hospital.
This retrospective study evaluated 718 older adults with a mean age of 69.5; three-quarters were women. The researchers compared the outcomes of those who participated in a structured, individualized exercise training program at a privately owned gym in their community for at least three months (411 participants) to the outcomes of those who did not. The structured program consisted of guided sessions of cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility training monitored by exercise physiologists. Participants completed a baseline physical assessment and quarterly reassessments of physical performance including measuring vital signs, strength (bicep curl or grip strength), mobility (as measured by the ability to easily go from sitting to standing), balancing on one leg, and aerobic capacity. These data were paired with regional hospital data and a national mortality database. Participants were followed for over two years.
When the researchers compared outcomes of older adults who participated in the exercise program with outcomes of those who did not, they found that the risk for all-cause hospitalization was 46 percent lower among the women in the exercise program. Surprisingly, this benefit was not seen among the men.
The researchers pointed out that the study doesn’t establish cause and effect between exercise and not needing healthcare, just a link, albeit a positive one for women. It’s also not known whether the people who dropped out of the structured exercise program exercised independently, potentially narrowing the observed differences between the groups. They also warned that participants may not be fully representative of the broader US population because they were all from one area of the country and had all been motivated to sign up for the gym program on their own.
