Pattypan Squash! Part Deux

---

Worth a shot!

---

I don't take well to failure, so when I noticed one of those pattypan squashes had been left over I had to take a second shot at making it into something edible.

Since discovering my local market sells large Israeli couscous, I've been on a bit of a couscous kick. I enjoy most couscous, but the texture of the larger pearls makes them more satisfying than the small couscous sold in the ethnic aisles of large-chain grocery stores. After a bit of careful consideration (I was hungry and didn't want to wait for my chicken to thaw) I decided that the couscous and the squash would work well together. I threw in dried cranberries for tartness and texture, and crossed my fingers.

The resulting pattypan couscous was surprisingly good, containing a bit of dairy and very little fat. It was a light dish that worked well in the summer heat, but I think adding pumpkin or another winter squash to the mix would make it perfect for fall or winter, also.

Don't get me wrong - I still don't condone the use of pattypan squash on humans or primates ... as this is what the pattypan squash looks like when it's oozing whatever ooze it oozes (below).

---

Do not eat.

---

Still, with the right couscous base it's not totally unappetizing.

If you think I'm kidding about the "not-fit-for-humans" line and want to try a pattypan couscous for yourself, you'll need:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
  
• 1 small onion, diced
  
• 1 cup of Israeli couscous
  
• black pepper
  
• dried rosemary
  
• parsley
  
• garlic salt
  
• touch of cumin
  
• touch of cayenne pepper
  
• 3 tbsp of dried cranberries
  
• 1/2 cup of patty pan squash (Y'all are substituting zucchini)
  
• 2 cups of boiling chicken stock
  
• slivers of Parmesan cheese
  

1. sauté the onion in the olive oil at medium heat until it turns golden
2. add the couscous and toast in the pot
3. add spices, sauté for 1 minute
4. add sliced patty pan squash and cranberries
5. pour the boiling chicken stock over the couscous
6. cover and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes
7. fluff and serve with slivered Parmesan cheese and cranberries
8. salt to taste

Let me know how it goes, kids! Enjoy!

Mmm. Cancerrific.

Et tu, char-grilled ribeye?

---

Every night I came home from working at the Steakback Outhouse, I smelled of fried onion, french fries, hamburgers, and other assorted seared and char-grilled meats. My boyfriend always complained of the grease on my shoes and the odor, but I thought that's where the offenses ended.

Turns out I was wrong.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota and Carleton College in Minnesota have conspired to reveal the dangers of commercial cooking. The frying of fatty foods releases particles that are carcinogenic, elevating the air pollution in restaurants' general vicinities. Diners and restaurant staff have been getting free lungfuls of the stuff for years!

Unfortunately, the foods that create the most hazardous emissions are delicious "fatty foods cooked with high heat, especially with open flames, such as cooking hamburger patties on a conveyor broiler". The aforementioned hamburgers, chicken cooked in peanut oil (read: Chinese food), and even pepperoni pizza cooked in an oven create emissions. Previous research has found that "for every 1,000 pounds of hamburger cooked on conveyor broilers, 25 pounds of emissions were created". Should the Green Gestapo ever decide to ban these air pollutants, at least pizza is safe, since it produces less harmful emissions than the other foods.

---

Not as meaty, but I'll take it.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/punch_pizza/

---

In a nutshell:

"These experiments help us to assess what needs to be replicated in standardized laboratory tests, and to suggest better methods of emission control," Gross said. "In combination with other measurements, we can provide a relatively comprehensive chemical and physical signature of the emissions from various cooking operations. Not only do these emissions affect air quality, but they contain chemicals that are known carcinogens."

We have the inquisitive folk who partook in the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco as well as Deborah Gross, PhD and company to thank (?) for this research.