These cukes make a zesty side dish and a terrific addition to sandwiches, burgers, and salads. They’re ready in less than an hour, but the flavor will intensify the longer they marinate in the fridge (bring them back to room temperature before serving).
Ingredients
2 large cucumbers, trimmed, peel left on
1 large red onion
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 bell pepper, any color, cored and cut into thin rings
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons dill, minced
Directions
Use a mandoline or the thin slicing blade of your food processor to slice the cucumbers and red onions. Transfer them to a colander nestled in a large bowl and toss with the salt. Let sit for an hour to release some of their liquid. Rinse with cold water to remove extra salt and rinse out the bowl. Place the cucumbers and onions in the bowl along with the pepper rings. Add the olive oil, vinegar, and dill, and toss well. Allow the flavors to meld for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Chicken Sausage, Mushrooms, & Peppers Recipe with Apple Balsamic Vinegar, Demystifying Deglazing, Staying Safe on Halloween and While Playing Pickleball
Members of the Fresh-Pressed Olive Oil Club know how much I love to grill, but I also appreciate recipes that offer the convenience of cooking grill-friendly proteins on the stovetop. My sear-and-steam method for sausages is quick and easy, and using my new Apple Balsamic Vinegar to deglaze the pan adds a sweet note you’ll truly enjoy. This edition of the newsletter also focuses on important safety issues, with tips for avoiding injury during two of our most popular pastimes including pickleball.
Spicy or mild, chicken (or duck) sausages are a delicious change from the traditional pork. This dish also makes a great sandwich filling for a crusty baguette or roll.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
16 ounces chicken sausages
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut into small squares
10 ounces button mushrooms, cleaned and halved if large
1/4 cup Apple Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 cup water
Directions
Heat a large skillet or frying pan. When hot, add the olive oil and sauté the sausages, browning them well on all sides. Add the peppers and mushrooms, and sauté over medium heat until tender. Deglaze (see Quick Kitchen Nugget in this week’s newsletter) the pan with the vinegar, and then add the water, cover, and steam-cook for about 5 minutes more, depending on the size of the sausages (the internal temperature of the sausages should read 165°F with an instant-read thermometer).
Yields 4 servings
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Apple Balsamic Vinegar
The Apple Balsamic Vinegar in my latest Curated Culinary Selections is the original artisanal vinegar from Riegersburg, Austria, inspired by Italian balsamic vinegar and crafted with time-honored traditions. This is not a supermarket “flavored” vinegar but rather a vinegar made completely from fruit.
The apples are first sorted and washed, then crushed and pressed into juice. Next, the juice is cooked in copper vessels for 24 hours to reduce it to a quarter of its original volume, intensifying its flavor. The two-step fermentation process happens in big stainless-steel vats, after which the vinegar is moved into small oak barrels and aged for at least eight years—the apple balsamic in this year’s collection has been aged for 10 years! The complex process creates exceptional sweetness, a mild tartness, and a wonderfully strong aroma. I just love how completely unique it is.
With our tasting spoons at the ready, David Gölles, son of master maker Alois Gölles Jr, and I explored the vast cellars of this unique Austrian producer.
“Our business focuses especially on old, almost forgotten heirloom varieties of fruit. In contrast to the types of dessert fruit common today, heirloom fruit often results in more complex and interesting spirits and vinegars,” said master maker Alois Gölles Jr. This balsamic’s success literally boils down to the varieties Alois chooses, including Maschansker, Ilzer Weinler, Rosenapfel, and Bohnapfel, each selected for its special characteristics. “Our products are proof positive that such neglected types of fruit can be used to make especially delicious spirits and vinegars. It means doing a lot of the work by hand with great care and a lot of passion,” added Alois.
Why you should have this vinegar in your kitchen: Apple Balsamic Vinegar adds a touch of sweetness to greens as well as composed cheese-and-fruit salads, from mozzarella, tomato, and basil to spinach, blue cheese, and walnuts. It enhances pork roasts and chops, grilled fish, carpaccio, goat cheese, pâtés, and terrines. Just a few drops will brighten savory dishes, such as oven-roasted vegetables, and sweet ones, like panna cotta-type puddings and vanilla and fruit-based ice creams. Use it to deglaze your pan when making reduction sauces—add a spoonful or two along with some butter and—voilà!—an amazing accompaniment for steak.
Exploring the Gölles family orchards is an amazing experience. I love the way they tap into heirloom varieties of fruits for their exquisite products.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Demystifying Deglazing
Deglazing is a quick technique to recapture all the tasty little bits of food that stick to your pan (pros call it the fond) after high-heat cooking. It simply involves adding some liquid—stock, wine, a spirit like brandy, or vinegar—to the pan (recipe directions will usually tell you how much liquid to use for the volume of food and how much sauce you want to create). You bring the liquid to a boil as you use a wooden spoon to loosen the bits, and then let it reduce, or cook down, until the sauce reaches your desired thickness. In general, the more liquid you add, the longer the reduction will take. Reduction time is particularly important when using wine or spirits to burn off the alcohol.
For Your Best Health
Staying Safe on Halloween
Smart precautions for trick-or-treat night aren’t just for children. Whether you are going out with kids or grandkids, are staying home to greet costumed visitors, or will be out and about on your own, consider these steps from the American Red Cross and the National Safety Council to help keep everyone safe.
If you’re taking kids trick-or-treating, have a flashlight to illuminate your path, place reflective tape strategically on their costumes, and avoid any houses that are dark.
Drive with caution and go slow. Kids may forget to look both ways when crossing streets, roads, or even driveways when going house to house. Be especially careful after sundown, when it is harder to see.
Make the approach to your front door safe. If you’ll be welcoming trick-or-treaters, light walkways and clear them of fallen leaves and any tripping hazards.
Protect against mischief-makers. Be sure to remove any valuables from your car and lock it; put it in your garage if you have one. Greet trick-or-treaters outside your front door—don’t invite anyone you don’t know inside—and keep valuables out of sight.
Fitness Flash
Pickleball for All
Over the past few years, pickleball has become all the rage—it’s the Zumba of the 2020s. It’s an activity that people of any age can enjoy, and its popularity has spurred communities large and small to build courts at a very fast pace. At the same time, doctors are seeing a rise in pickleball-related injuries, from strains and sprains to damage to the rotator cuff (the musculature around your shoulder joint) to fractures and even concussions.
Pickleball has many benefits—it can improve your mental health, promote healthy aging, lower the risk of chronic disease, and even boost your social life. “It actually provides a pretty good overall body workout,” says orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist Brian Cole, MD, of RUSH University Medical Center in Chicago, a pickleball player himself. “It can help with balance, agility, reflexes and hand-eye coordination, and it doesn’t put excessive strain or stress on our bodies.” But, he adds, it’s important to stay safe while you’re on the court. Here are his tips.
Get your doctor’s go-ahead.
If you haven’t been very active in a while, you may not be as prepared to play as you think. You might also have an underlying condition that you aren’t aware of and that can put you at risk for injury. “Millions of people walk around with rotator cuff tears but have no pain because they’re well adapted,” Dr. Cole says. “But then they go out, adopt this new sport, and they do some funky move that puts them over the edge, and they become symptomatic.”
Warm up first.
Before you start any athletic activity, warming up to get your heart rate up and get blood flowing to your muscles will help prevent injury. Dr. Cole recommends a 10-minute warm-up that might begin with some jogging or jumping jacks.
Next, you might do some arm circles and shoulder rotations: Hold your arms straight out from your sides and rotate them in small circles, and then gradually make bigger circles before rotating in the opposite direction. Then, with your arms in front of you, rotate your shoulders forward and back.
Finish up with leg swings: Stand next to a wall for support, swing one leg back and forth, and then from side to side. Repeat with your other leg.
Work on your coordination.
A lot of pickleball injuries happen in the lower extremities—the legs, ankles, and feet. If you’re not well balanced and coordinated, you could be at higher risk for tripping and falling. “Effective footwork is crucial for maintaining balance, agility, and positioning on the pickleball court,” Dr. Cole says. “Unskilled footwork will decrease your skills and may be responsible for the most common pickleball injuries.” He recommends spending a few minutes on these practice drills to help you get used to some of the motions you’ll be making during play.
Side-to-side shuffle: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, and then quickly move side to side.
Cross-step drill: Start again with your feet shoulder-width apart. Cross one leg in front of the other diagonally. Then quickly move your back leg out from behind the front leg to return to the position you started in. Keep moving side to side, crossing and uncrossing your legs in this way.
Get the right gear.
First, make sure your paddle is appropriate for your strength level. You’ll be swinging it a lot, so it shouldn’t cause your arm to feel tired or overworked. “Lightweight paddles offer less strain and fatigue in your arms, as they weigh 7.5 ounces and less,” Dr. Cole says.
Next, choose the right shoes for the court, whether indoors or out. “Shoes for outdoor games should be durable enough for the surface of the court,” Dr. Cole says. “They typically have a modified herringbone pattern that optimizes the combination of give and grip. Indoor shoes have softer, thinner, lighter outsoles, so they’re best for hardwood surfaces.” Wear cushioning sports socks to help prevent blisters.
If you’re playing outdoors, also consider sunglasses to protect your eyes (wear with a strap to keep them in place during play). To protect against sun damage and skin cancer, choose a sunscreen with an SPF of 50 or above, Dr. Cole says.
Take a lesson.
Many clubs and park districts offer pickleball lessons to players of all skill levels. “Some would argue that pickleball is a sport that is more about strategy than physical ability, including strength and conditioning,” Cole says. “To be good at any age and stay injury free, take a lesson. Not only will you beat your opponent, but you will be more likely to stay in the game.”
Spicy or mild, chicken (or duck) sausages are a delicious change from the traditional pork. This dish also makes a great sandwich filling for a crusty baguette or roll.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
16 ounces chicken sausages
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut into small squares
10 ounces button mushrooms, cleaned and halved if large
1/4 cup Apple Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 cup water
Directions
Heat a large skillet or frying pan. When hot, add the olive oil and sauté the sausages, browning them well on all sides. Add the peppers and mushrooms, and sauté over medium heat until tender. Deglaze (see Quick Kitchen Nugget in this week’s newsletter) the pan with the vinegar, and then add the water, cover, and steam-cook for about 5 minutes more, depending on the size of the sausages (the internal temperature of the sausages should read 165°F with an instant-read thermometer).
Creamy Crab and Corn Chowder Recipe with Sherry Vinegar, Spotlight on Spatulas, Positivity for Longevity, and Stepping for Heart Health
Soup’s on! Crisp nights (and days) call for heartwarming dishes. I’m sharing one of my favorite chowder recipes, full of flavor with a minimum of cooking time. It features an exquisite sherry vinegar from Spain, the country that put sherry vinegar on the culinary map.
I also want to share findings from two recent studies, both good for body and soul. One is on the importance of positivity and the other, a fresh look at the value of walking for a longer, healthier life—you’ll be surprised by how few steps it takes to start making an impact.
Shelled crabmeat is readily available at many markets, and this recipe is delicious whether you use claw meat or the more expensive lump crabmeat. Grating the onion on a box grater will separate out most of its liquid, making for a faster sauté.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated yellow onion
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 cup half-and-half
8 ounces cooked crabmeat
1 cup corn kernels, fresh, canned, or frozen
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
Directions
Heat a medium saucepan. When hot, add the olive oil and onions. Sauté over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the onions are soft and any liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the sherry vinegar to the pan. When it starts to boil, sprinkle on the flour and whisk vigorously until you get a thick paste, about 3 minutes, allowing the flour to cook. Add the milk, 1/2 cup at a time, and continue to whisk vigorously, letting the mixture thicken before adding the next 1/2 cup. Add the half-and-half in the same way. Lower the heat to a simmer and fold in the crabmeat, corn kernels, thyme, salt, and pepper. Heat through, about 3 minutes. Adjust the seasonings to taste and serve.
Yields 4-6 servings
Healthy Ingredient Spotlight
Sherry Vinegar
Spain is legendary for its sherry, which can only be produced inside a small area within the province of Cádiz in the southwestern part of Andalusia, a romantic region also known for flamenco and majestic horses. I remember my first visit—now more than 20 years ago—to the famous “sherry triangle” that connects the three cities of El Puerto, Sanlucar, and Jerez. Jerez is home to Bodegas Páez Morilla, and thanks to the efforts of four generations of the Páez family, the region is now also known for its delectable sherry vinegar.
A toast to the founder of Bodegas Páez Morilla, Don Antonio Páez Lobato, seen in this beautiful mural. He saw the potential in sherry vinegar and brought it to the world stage back in 1940
Only certain grapes can be used to make sherry vinegar that meets the standards for DOP (Denominación de Origen Protegida, or Protected Designation of Origin), such as palomino, which is most commonly used, and the sweeter muscatel. The Pedro Ximénez Reserve Sherry Vinegar that I’ve just made available through my latest Curated Culinary Selections is a special reserva of Pedro Ximenez or “PX” grapes, a white grape variety left in the sun longer than usual to concentrate its sugars and give the taste and deep color of raisins. And it’s a customized blend of PX vinegars from the two of Bodegas Páez Morilla’s smallest-sized barrels for a sweeter rather than drier taste.
Why you should have this vinegar in your kitchen: Beyond my Creamy Crab & Corn Chowder, sherry vinegar is essential for classic gazpacho and for so many Mediterranean dishes that use olive oil, from salads and lentils to lamb and duck. You’ll want to drizzle it over sliced tomatoes with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and fresh oregano; grilled or roasted vegetables, vegetable stir-fries, and boiled potatoes or carrots; reduction sauces, marinades, and pickling liquid; tuna salad and other fish dishes; sweet sauces like fruit coulis and caramel sauce; and citrus or high-acid fruits like strawberries.
As delicious as a fine wine, perfectly aged sherry vinegar is a delight for the senses. Because barrels are never fully emptied, some amount in every bottle of Bodegas Páez Morilla vinegar has been aged for decades! Tastings with their oenologist Raúl Guerrero, PhD, are something I look forward to at every visit.
Quick Kitchen Nugget
Spatula Savvy
When it comes to inexpensive but efficient kitchen tools, spatulas top the list. They can help you with so many kitchen tasks, from easily flipping pancakes to scraping every last bit of batter from your mixing bowl. The only trick is using the right spatula for the task at hand. Here are some of the designs to consider adding to your kitchen utensil crock or drawer.
The classic flipper spatula has a wide-angled blade and a long handle to protect your hands from getting too close to a hot pan. The blade might be solid, slotted, or perforated, which allows liquid or fat to drain away when you lift cooked food, like a burger, from your pan or griddle. A very versatile version is a slotted fish spatula with a very long blade with slits; it’s shaped to get under a good sized filet and lift it. When shopping for these spatulas, look for stainless steel or aluminum for durability. They’re also strong enough to use one side as a knife to cut and then lift cooked foods from baking dishes and the like. Though more expensive than other spatulas, they should last forever and are easy to clean. One caution: Don’t use them on non-stick pans because they can scratch the surface.
Another essential is the scraping spatula with its rectangular blade, excellent for folding ingredients and transferring batters from bowl to cake pan and cold salads to serving dishes. Some are wood-handled with a silicone blade—they come in a variety of colors. One advantage of silicone is that it can withstand high heat, often up to 600°F, so you can use it without it melting when cooking on the stovetop. There are also more heavy-duty one-piece silicone designs. Aways buy certified BPA-free silicone. Most blades are flat, but the curved blade, called a spoonula, is also great to have—its shape makes scooping easy. These spatulas come in a variety of sizes, ensuring that you have the right one for every job.
A great tool for bakers is the offset spatula with a thin metal blade set at an angle to the handle. It’s excellent for smoothing the tops of batter in cake pans, spreading and getting an even surface with frosting, and slipping under cookies when you need to loosen them from a cookie sheet.
And if you’re a cake baker, a cake spatula, big enough to slide under a cake round, makes easy work of stacking layers and transferring finished cakes to a serving plate.
For Your Best Health
Positivity to Last a Lifetime
For the study “The development of subjective well-being across the life span: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal studies” published in the journal Psychological Bulletin, researchers from Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany looked at how feelings of well-being change over a person’s lifespan. “We focused on changes in three central components of subjective well-being,” explains Professor Susanne Bücker, PhD. “Life satisfaction, positive emotional states, and negative emotional states.”
The findings show that the life satisfaction decreases between the ages of 9 and 16, most likely due to changes to the body and social life that take place during puberty. Then it increases slightly until the age of 70, at which point it decreases once again until the age of 96.
“Overall, the study indicated a positive trend over a wide period of life, if we look at life satisfaction and negative emotional states,” says Dr. Bücker. After the decline in the preteen and teen years, satisfaction rises again from young adulthood onwards. In very late adulthood, all components of subjective well-being tended to worsen rather than improve. “This could be related to the fact that in very old people, physical performance decreases, health often deteriorates, and social contacts diminish, not least because their peers pass away,” she speculates.
The study highlights the need to promote subjective well-being across our lives. Need a positivity boost right now? Positive thinking is a habit you can develop with practice. Here are ideas from experts at the College of Health Care Professions in Texas:
1. Engage in positive self-talk. Be as accepting, understanding, gentle, and encouraging with yourself as you would be with a loved one.
2. Practice gratitude. Taking a step back to reflect on things you’re thankful for can help you maintain a positive attitude. Make a habit of reminding yourself why you’re grateful every day.
3. Challenge negativity. When a negative thought pops into your head, evaluate it from a logical perspective. If you conclude it’s illogical or not serving you and your happiness, try reframing it in a more positive light.
4. Spend time with positive people. Their good attitude can rub off on you. Optimistic people tend to be more fun to be around and can help you enjoy life more and stay motivated when times are tough.
5. Take care of your physical health. When you feel good physically, you’re more likely to feel good mentally and emotionally, have more energy and stamina, think more clearly, and make better decisions.
6. Laugh more. When we laugh, our bodies release endorphins, which have natural mood-elevating properties. Laughter also reduces stress and improves immune function.
7. Treat your “self” well. When you make time for self-care, you’re investing in your overall health and well-being. And while it may seem like a luxury, it can promote a positive mindset.
8. Create morning and evening routines. To set the tone for your day and promote a sense of calm and well-being, when you wake up, take some deep breaths, set your intention for the day, and stretch or do some light exercises to get your body moving. In the evening, wind down with a relaxing activity, write down three things you are grateful for from the day in a journal, and then spend a few minutes visualizing your ideal life and what you want to manifest in the coming days.
9. Be curious. Curiosity can lead to greater creativity and problem-solving ability, promote a positive mindset, increase knowledge and understanding, and provide a sense of satisfaction.
10. Seek out new experiences. Take your curiosity further: Experiment with a new recipe, learn a new skill, or explore a different part of your city. When we step out of our comfort zones, we open ourselves up to new possibilities and give ourselves a chance to learn and grow.
Fitness Flash
Step to It
It’s no secret that a sedentary lifestyle is a heart disease risk factor. You’ve probably also heard that the magic number of daily steps you should take is 10,000. However, according to the study “The Association Between Daily Step Count and All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality: A Meta-Analysis” published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, the optimal number of steps—both the minimum it takes to see health benefits and any upper limit—is unclear. A group of European researchers set out to find some definitive answers.
They analyzed 17 studies on the topic involving a total of 226,889 participants and found some surprising and hopeful news, starting with the fact that you will begin to see health benefits by taking even 2,500 to 4,000 steps a day. They also found that people can progressively lower the risk of dying from heart disease and from any cause as they add to those steps: every 1,000-step increment correlated with a significant reduction of all-cause mortality (dying from any cause) of 15% Even a 500-step increment correlated with a reduced risk of CV mortality (dying from heart disease) of 7%.
To put numbers to those percentages, people who exceeded 5,500 steps a day saw their relative risks of all-cause mortality dropping by 48%. Go beyond that and the benefits go even higher: It dropped by 55% with 7,370 daily steps and by 67% with 11,529 steps. Looking at CV mortality in particular, taking about 4,000 steps a day lowered the risk by 16%, 6,661 steps a day by 49% and 10,400 steps a day by 77%.
The researchers hope that these findings will spur taking more steps among people who thought much higher numbers were needed to get results and, as a consequence, didn’t even try.
