unorthodoxchef

I know that many vegetarians will want to skip this post, but this is a very important subject for pork lovers because it is filled with myths. So is it safe to eat pork medium? The answer is, yes and no depending on the type of cut you plan to prepare.

In my experiences in food service and with the restaurants, the only cut that I ever served medium to medium rare was pork tenderloin.However, that’s not to say that other cuts of pork are not safe to eat at lower temperatures. In fact, the USDA states that pork should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Most of this information is designed around consumers that are completely unknowledgable about the resale of pork.

If you are in the habit of purchasing your pork froma butcher, chances are your pork is of a much better quality and can hold up to lower temperatures leaving you with a juicier and flavorful dish. If by chance you are shopping at the local discount store, the pork in the coolers are often treated with more chemicals, leaving them to last longer in their displays, but this also have an adverse affect on the freshness of the meat, regardless of if you plan to cook it well done.

The latest question in my box was about the best way to prepare pasta. I think when it comes to the noodle, people tend to go overboard with rich sauces, covering up the light flavors that most of the time be quite healthy.

The best way to prepare pasta is to leave off all sauces. Yes, that’s right! No matter is you are a vegetarian or a meat lover, there are ways to keep it both flavorful and healthy.

My favorite vegetarian way to prepare pasta is to take some garlic cloves and boil them in olive oil until they are soft and sweet. Take some sundried tomato’s, kosher salt, white pepper, a pinch of sugar, fresh basil, and the cloves and toss them in a food processor.

There is your sauce. It’s tangy and fruity, and it can be combined with fresh spinach and mushrooms with feta and black olives.

The same base can be added to ground turkey meat, fat free kielbasa, grilled fish, or lean cut red meats.

After working in a high volume Italian restaurant that specialized in preparing pasta, I had the time to experiment with some healthy alternatives to cut out the sodium and the fat and provide you and your family with a wonderful meal that will satisfy all the picky people.

The Key to the Perfect Pasta

Cut out the sauce

Use ground vegetables as your base

Olive Oil in your friend(X-Virgin)

Use  Kosher salt and White pepper for flavoring.

I’m sitting in the library right now wondering why I haven’t written on this blog for a while. After my last installment, I think that the whole restaurant industry has left a bad taste in my mouth.

It’s really a shame considering I envisioned myself doing this for the longest time. And so I came up with a new direction for this blog. I want my readers (if I have any that is, lol) to start asking me questions about the business. I don’t want you to hold back.

I want questions like:

If I were to open a restaurant here, would you think I would be successful?

Marketing ideas for small business’s?

Cooking tips?

It’s easy, well not right now, to come up with topics on food that everyone has already talked about. I want to know if you have any questions or need any tips.

Trust me, I’ve been through it all and I come from a long line of restaurant owners so if there’s anything you really want to know, I’m sure I’ll have the answer or can get it for you.

So ask away and don’t be shy!

I wanted to thank everyone on my Top Dropper List for the last time. It’s been a great run, and I do understand why Today has made this decision. However, I think this is a perfect opportunity for droppers to actually start reading and commenting on each others work.

I believe that commenting and following will make a much better impact on relationships and page views than Entrecard ever did. I know that having threeblogs and studying leaves with me with no time to drop cards for eight hours when I know that my schooling is much more important.

And so, after that gentle rant and a lot of long hours of dropping, here are my Top Droppers: